Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 88.14
Liaison Tonie Miyamoto
Submission Date Dec. 6, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Colorado State University
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 14.00 / 14.00 Kirstie Tedrick
Sustainability Coordinator
Housing & Dining Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Figures required to calculate the percentage of courses offered by the institution that are sustainability course offerings:
Undergraduate Graduate
Total number of courses offered by the institution 1,840 1,038
Number of sustainability courses offered 108 74
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 241 186

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
21.16

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
59

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
54

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
91.53

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

A brief description of the methodology used to determine the total number of courses offered and to identify sustainability course offerings, including the definitions used and the process for reviewing and/or validating the course inventory :

Our methodology approach was taken directly from the STARS 2.1 technical manual. For our 2017 STARS report, we developed a database with sustainability courses and worked with the Provost to ask each Department Chair on campus to review the courses to edit descriptions, remove courses that were not being offered and/or did not meet the criteria, and add courses that may have been missed during the course catalog inventory. For 2018-2019, we used that same database and added any new courses from the 2018-2019 course catalog that include sustainability and deleted courses that are no longer offered. Department Chair and faculty have ongoing access to the database to add, delete, and edit courses as needed. The final course inventory is attached along with our methodology.

Sustainability courses are indicated in our inventory and have a primary and explicit focus on sustainability.

Courses that include sustainability are indicated in our inventory, as well as courses that have a primary focus other than sustainability but incorporate or integrate sustainability challenges, activities, service-learning, research, and/or case studies. As a land grant institution, many of these courses offer field experience and/or hands-on research or laboratory learning opportunities.


How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
Each course was counted as a single course regardless of the number of offerings or sections

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted (if different from the options outlined above):

We counted each course that was offered for the 2018-2019 academic year just once and did not factor in courses that have multiple sections or offered multiple times each academic year.


Are the following course types included in the inventory? :
Yes (included) or No (not included)
Internships No
Practicums No
Independent study No
Special topics Yes
Thesis / dissertation No
Clinical No
Physical education No
Performance arts Yes

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The copy of unique courses does not include the following courses:
- Internships
- Practicums
- Thesis
- Dissertation
- Just ‘Seminar’
- Just ‘Capstone’
- Field Placements
- Group Studies
- Just ‘Research’

These were not included in the inventory because these courses do not offer a course description as they vary by semester/student.


The copy of unique courses does not include the following courses:
- Internships
- Practicums
- Thesis
- Dissertation
- Just ‘Seminar’
- Just ‘Capstone’
- Field Placements
- Group Studies
- Just ‘Research’

These were not included in the inventory because these courses do not offer a course description as they vary by semester/student.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.